Does the New Testament Imitate Homer?: Four Cases from the Acts of the Apostlesdiv In this provocative challenge to prevailing views of New Testament sources, Dennis R. MacDonald argues that the origins of passages in the book of Acts are to be found not in early Christian legends but in the epics of Homer. MacDonald focuses on four passages in the book of Acts, examines their potential parallels in the Iliad, and concludes that the author of Acts composed them using famous scenes in Homer’s work as a model. |
From inside the book
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... motif appears in Mark , but now it is Jesus who asks for the name , and the demoniac responds , “ Legion is my name . ” Both works use the motif of requesting a name but Mark transforms it : the hero asks for the name of the caveman ...
... motif or phrase, someone else can almost always, by looking hard enough, find the same motif elsewhere in ancient literature. Some scholars thus restrict distinctive traits to words or phrases that are nearly unique to the proposed ...
... motifs, not words or grammatical constructions, so the parallels presented here differ from compari- sons of the Synoptic Gospels, for example. Rhetoricians took replication of exact wording as artless and lazy.≥≤ Elements that appear ...
... motifs but after a single literary model: Hermes' rescue of Priam from the Greek camp in Iliad 24. The final example is Paul's speech to the elders of Ephesus at Miletus (Acts 20:17–38). During the last fifty years a consensus has ...
... portent together . Imitations of the Lying Dream Homer's account of the dream to Agamemnon consists of three scenes with the following motifs.4 1. Sending the messenger 1.1 . Decision of the deity 29 3. More Dreams and Portents.
Contents
1 | |
17 | |
Pauls Farewell at Miletus and Iliad | 67 |
The Selection of Matthias and Iliad | 103 |
Peters Escape from Prison and Iliad | 121 |
Conclusion | 146 |
Greek and Latin Parallels | 153 |
List of Abbreviations | 167 |
Notes | 171 |
Bibliography | 209 |
Index | 221 |